


As Free As A Bird

by Hershey_chan



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Bird Gavin Free, Bird Griffon, Blood and Injury, Broken Bones, Bull Ryan, Cat Michael Jones, Depression, Drinking, F/M, Gen, Gun Violence, Hate Crimes, Hurt Gavin Free, Hybrid AU, Hybrids, Hypothermia, M/M, Predator/Prey, Protective Dan, Protective Geoff Ramsey, Protective Ryan, Protectiveness, Ram Geoff, Sick Gavin Free
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-07-09
Packaged: 2018-09-24 06:55:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9709247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hershey_chan/pseuds/Hershey_chan
Summary: Gavin thought being a bird was top, but it had it's downfalls sometimes.Chapter 1: Gavin/Michael, broken bonesChapter 2: Gavin & Geoff, hypothermiaChapter 3: Gavin & Achievement Hunter, asthmaChapter 4: Gavin/Michael and Gavin&Geoff, broken wingChapter 5: Gavin & Dan, Shot by huntersChapter 6: Gavin & Ryan, Predator vs. prey instinctsUpcoming Chapter 7: Gavin/Meg, fluRequests welcome!





	1. Gavin/Michael, Broken Bones

Usually, Gavin loved being a bird hybrid. Wings were amazing, not just because he could fly, but also because they just looked badass and everyone thought so. They also were handy when he needed to go anywhere seeing as he doesn't drive. And he can get away from someone that was getting a little too annoyed at his antics.

But sometimes being a bird hybrid fucking sucked balls. One reason was that Gavin's bones were much lighter than most other people's, and some of them were even hollow. They still had to be tough enough to withstand the pressures of flight (including take-off and landing), but they still broke easily, which he and his parents learned quickly when he was a child.

As a semi-responsible adult, Gavin had managed to learn most of the kinds of behaviors to avoid so that he pretty much never got injured too badly. The main danger was that Drunk Gavin liked to wrestle with anyone he could egg into it, and he didn't have enough sense to think about how much damage that could do to his poor skeleton.

Back in England, his main target would have been Dan, who, despite being a wolf with military training, had never once hurt Gavin beyond some bruising. This was mostly because he had grown up around Gavin and knew how fragile he was, so he knew to check his strength and play gently. He'd also gotten pretty good at hiding it from Gav, so that the smaller man never knew he was holding back. Dan thought Gavin's drunken confidence was charming, after all.

When Gavin first came to Austin, before he was a member of Achievement Hunter, he was lucky that the first person that he tried to wrestle was Geoff. Geoff knew from being married to Griffon, who was also a bird, how much trouble bird skeletons were. She may be the toughest person he's ever met, but hollow bones are hollow bones. They don't care if you're a badass. So when the scrawny Brit tried to tackle him the first time they got drunk together, Geoff knew not to fight back too hard. Later, when he was telling everyone else at Rooster Teeth stories about how funny Gavin was drunk, Geoff would remember to tell them all to be careful not to hurt Gavin if he ever tried to fight them. Soon everyone at the company knew how to handle Gavin, and so he never had any midnight ambulance rides.

Gavin wasn't in America long that time, though. With Gavin back in England, everyone could stop worrying about accidentally hurting the drunk moron. Rooster Teeth went through a lot of changes, primarily in that they started hiring a lot of new members, none of whom ever needed to learn about the dangers of being rough with a bird hybrid.

Now Gavin was back in America, permanently he hoped. He found himself hanging out with some of the newer members of Rooster Teeth more and more, especially Michael. Gavin and Michael were such polar opposites, but they hit it off right away. Now they were almost inseparable.

One of their favorite activities was swimmy bevs, just hanging out in the pool at Michael's apartment complex and drinking, enjoying how the water made the drinks feel that much stronger. Afterwards, Gavin would get a ride home and then spend the night bothering Geoff and Griffon, which they usually thought was funny. Then, they'd help him sort out his damp feathers and put him to bed. However, Griffon and Geoff were getting tired of having children in their house and desperately needed some alone time. Which is what leads to Gavin swiveling his desk chair to face Michael once the other achievement hunters were out of the office for a while.

"Michael, my boy. Can you do something for me?" Gavin asked batting his eyelashes at the redhead.

Michael glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes before scoffing and going back to his work while he answered. "That depends. Is it some dumb as shit bet again? Because you still haven't paid me for the fucking last one!"

"I did pay you! I gave you your $100, you pleb!"

"I agreed to $500, not $100, you cheap piece of shit! You always start backing out and lowering the numbers! I'm making you sign a fucking contract next time." Michael was red-faced and slamming his hands on the keyboard as he typed.

Gavin was quiet for a few moments, but at this point he was too used to Michael to be deterred by his anger.

"Aww, Micool. You don't hate me now, do you, boi? My little Micool~"

Michael stopped then and actually turned to Gavin, who was making the most innocent face. He sighed heavily and snapped, "What the fuck do you want?"

Gavin smiled at him, "Can I stay at your flat this weekend? Geoff and Griffon want the house to themselves, and I'm unusually at your place for gaming and swimmy bevs anyway."

"I can't imagine why Geoff and Griffon would want to get away from you." He said sarcastically, causing Gavin to pout.

"I have nowhere else to go, Michael! I'll pay for your food and bevs and everything, I promise! Please, Micool?"

Michael was grinning back now. "I won't leave you to try to survive in the elements. Of course you can stay with me. You're my boy, Gavvy."

"Lovely Michael! Aww yes, this is going to be tippy toppers!"

"The tippiest and the toppiest, boy!" Michael said back and patted Gavin on the back.

That Friday, Gavin found himself excitedly bouncing up and down in Michael's passenger seat, playing with the radio.

Michael looked over with an annoyed furrow in his brow. "Quit moving around so much, Gavin. You're going to make me crash the car."

"I can't help it Michael, " Gavin grinned at him, and Michael couldn't stop a small smile from growing in response. "I get to spend the whole weekend with my boi! I brought so many snacks and booze!"

"Yeah, I noticed. What'd you do, bring everything Geoff owned? Buy out an entire liquor store?"

Gavin just shrugged, "Well, I apparently owed you a few hundred dollars, didn't I?"

Michael snorted. He was pleased that Gavin didn't cheap out like always, and he was actually looking forward to getting absolutely wasted with Gav this weekend.

Almost as soon as they were back at Michael's apartment, they both changed into their swim suits and grabbed some vodka and Sunny D and headed straight for the pool to escape the oppressive Texan heat. They played in the water for hours, with Gavin chugging down drinks as soon as they were poured so that he could mess with Michael while the redhead calmly sipped at his drinks. Gavin tried splashing Michael, sneaking up on Michael, pushing Michael under the water, all of which inevitably ended with Michael holding a struggling Gavin under the water for a few seconds before letting him up. But, after a while, the vodka ran out and they were both getting hungry.

Michael managed to climb out of the pool without too much difficulty, though he was definitely a little drunk. Gavin on the other hand, started swaying dangerously as soon as he started climbing out, definitely drunk, and off-balance from his drenched wings and tail. Michael ended up having to pull the scrawny bird out of the pool and then support him as they stumbled back to the apartment.

Michael herded Gavin into the bathroom so that they could both change into some jammies, then he helped Gavin to the couch.

Gavin's head lolled over to stare at Michael intently.

"What?" Michael asked, giggling at how goofy Gavin looked with his drenched feathers.

"You're my favorite boy, boi." Gavin slurred out with a giant smile.

"Aww, Gavvy wavvy wuvs me." Michael said, poking Gavin in the chest.

Gavin booped Michael's nose in return. "I do, Micool."

"Dude, you're so fucking drunk right now. You need to eat something."

"SNACKS!" Gavin shouted, suddenly remembering the bags of junk food that he'd brought. He tried to jump up to get them, but immediately toppled over onto the floor and bust out laughing.

Michael started laughing uncontrollably, too, but still managed to get Gavin back on the couch. "I'll get them, bird brain."

A minute later, Michael was back with food, and Gavin started rifling through the bags as Michael picked some shitty movie for them to make fun of.

Gavin started to feel slightly less drunk as he got some food in his stomach, which would just not do. So, he got up, only stumbling a little this time, and fetched some more booze for himself and Michael. He threw himself down on the couch right next to Michael so that he could snuggle while they watched the movie.

Michael sputtered as Gavin's feathers went straight into his face when Gavin plopped down and started shuffling to get comfortable. "Gav, your fucking feathers are in my mouth and eyes."

"Sorry, Micool." Gavin said, trying to shift into a better position, smacking Michael with his wings a few times in the process. Finally, he managed to settle so that his wings were folded away, and he could rest his head on Michael's shoulder. They drank and laughed until the movie ended.

"Gavvy, I need to get up to put another movie on."

Gavin blinked up at Michael from where he had managed to slip down to rest his head on Michael's lap. He was feeling fuzzy and floaty and warm. Instead of letting Michael up, he grabbed the redhead's face. "Noooo, Michael, I don't want to get up." He smushed Michael's cheeks to make his face look funny and started giggling.

Michael tried to swat Gavin's hands away, but the Brit just moved them up to stroke at his curly hair. He started tugging at the curls. "Sproing." Tug. "Sproing." Tug. "Sproing."

Michael grabbed his hands. "Stop it you mingy prick." He tried to sound mad, but there was a telltale tone in his voice showing that he thought the teasing was humorous.

"Those are my words Michael!" Gavin shouted, sitting up.

"AHA!" Michael cried triumphantly, pushing Gavin the rest of the way off of him and jumping to his feet and dashing away.

Gavin squawked. "Ah no, you weren't supposed to get up." Gavin also stumbled off the couch and took off after Michael as best he could.

He and Michael sprinted through the apartment, knocking stuff over and laughing like maniacs. Finally, Gavin got so riled up, he lunged at Michael, and sent them both tumbling to the floor.

Michael was more than happy to wrestle with the smaller hybrid, rolling them over to pin Gavin to the floor. Gavin smiled wickedly up at him before elbowing him hard in the stomach.

Michael coughed, and Gavin managed to wiggle free and start running again. This time, Michael started chasing him, blood pumping and feline fighting instincts kicking in.

He pounced on Gavin in the kitchen, knocking him hard into the wall, and making Gavin shriek loudly. He then wrapped his arms around Gavin's chest, and squeezed as he pulled the bird away from the wall to toss him to the floor. Gavin cried out again, this time accompanied with a cracking sound and a crunching feeling under Michael's forearms.

"Gavin!?!??" Michael shouted, alarmed, as he loosened his hold and gently lowered Gavin down.

Gavin grimaced and blinked up at Michael. He'd felt a weird twinge in his wrist as he'd first hit the wall, but the alcohol was dimming his senses. However, when Michael started squeezing him round the middle, he'd felt a much sharper pain, and he'd felt instantly more sober.

Gavin tried to take a deep breath to steady himself, only to stop and let out a moan when he felt a sharp pain in his chest. "Ugh, Micool. It huuurts."

Michael was panicking, hands fluttered uselessly over Gavin, too afraid to touch him. "Oh god, Gavvy. What did I do? Are you okay? What happened?"

Gavin was breathing shallowly now. He focused his eyes on Michael's and whispered out. "I think you... broke my ribs. Also... maybe my wrist? No biggie... happens all the time." He stuttered out, gasping.

Michael's eyes were wide as saucers. "WHAT?!? Oh god, oh GOD!!!"

Michael dug his phone out of his pocket, calling for an ambulance.

He settled on holding Gavin's non-swollen hand and stroking his hair, while they waited for the ambulance. Gavin just laid there, quietly wheezing and moaning.

Michael stood awkwardly in the waiting room as the EMTs rushed Gavin down some hallway. He decided that he could be useful and call Geoff, though he was worried the ram might murder him for hurting Gavin.

"Michael? What the fuck are you calling me for at... 4 in the morning?" Geoff mumbled out, clearly having just woken up.

"Umm... I'm at the hospital." Michael whispered in reply.

"What?" Geoff sounded a lot more awake now.

Michael started explaining to Geoff what happened, voice shaking and getting louder and more frantic as he went. "We were just drunk and playing, and then he started wrestling with me. All I did was try to rough house a little and his bones just fucking crunched under my arms! How the fuck was I supposed to know he had glass bones or some shit?!? OH MY GOD, OH FUCK! I could have killed him, Geoff!!!!"

"Michael, I need you to calm the fuck down. You didn't know, it was an accident. I'm sure Gavin will be fine. Griffon and I are on our way, and we'll be there as soon as possible." Geoff was doing a good job hiding his panic, but Michael could still hear the tremble in his voice.

Michael collapsed into a chair, covering his face with his hands to try to stop himself from crying. "We were just playing, Geoff."

"I know, buddy. Same thing happened with me and Griffon the first time we slept together." Geoff stated, trying to reassure Michael. "It was scary as dicks."

Michael could hear Griffon let out a quick laugh somewhere next to Geoff, despite the situation.

"Why don't you go get the papers from the nurse and we can help you fill them out while we drive?"

Michael jumped at the chance to do something useful. He filled out paperwork with Geoff's help over the phone, and soon enough the papers were finished and Geoff and Griffon came bursting into the waiting room.

They all sat quietly until a doctor called out for them, and they were finally allowed back to see Gavin.

Despite the cast on his wrist, the bandages poking out from the loose collar of his hospital gown, and the IV in his arm, Gavin looked happy as could be.

"Miiiicoooooooool! Your hair's made of cotton candy just for me!" Then again, maybe it was the painkillers in the IV bag that were making Gavin look so deliriously joyful.

Michael rushed over to Gavin, sobs shaking his form as he buried his face in the bird hybrid's hair. "I'm so fucking sorry, Gav."

Gavin clumsily patted the back of Michael's head with his good hand. "There there, Micool. I have bird bones. Good for flying, but they break. They're breaky. They're breakers? You're a breaker." He started giggling again.

"You're high as dicks, Gavin." Geoff chimed in.

"Geoffrey! And Griffon! The three G's are all here in this room together in the same place at the same time! Whoa." Gavin exclaimed, as he happily ran his fingers through Michael's curls.

"Yup, but I think we're going to leave you with Michael. He can take care of you." Geoff said, bidding Gavin and Michael farewell, and leaving with Griffon.

Gavin merely hummed in response, already feeling drowsiness start to wash over him. He continued to hug Michael, who seemed to have stopped crying, but refused to stop hugging the bird boy. Gavin smiled as he drifted to sleep.


	2. Gavin & Geoff, Hypothermia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When a winter storm causes a mass black out in Austin, our favorite bird hybrid suffers from his increased susceptibility to the cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is also set in the early years where Gavin lived with Geoff and Griffon, for the sake of the plot.
> 
> If anyone has any suggestions or requests for future chapters, please let me know!

One of Gavin's favorite things about moving to Texas for his job at Rooster Teeth was the climate.  As a bird hybrid, his body was not well equipped for handling the constant cold, wet weather in England, meaning that he was always utterly miserable and buried in layers of clothing.  In stark contrast, living in Texas was a dream, a dry and hot wonderland.  He could dress in T-shirts whenever he wanted, and even the winters rarely got cold enough that he needed more than a light jacket.

 

That being said, today was one of those rare days that were cold as dicks, thanks to some horrendous winter storm that had already started to coat the city in a thin sheet of snow.  Even with a full ensemble of coat, scarf, hat, and gloves, the cold was unbearable to him as he piled into Michael's car that afternoon when they were all ordered home from work early that Friday, lest they get trapped at the office by the storm.  Once inside the car, he turned the heat up to full blast.

 

"Dude, it's hot as balls in here.  How the fuck are you still shivering?"  Michael glanced at him in incredulity.

 

"I'm a bird, Micool."  Gavin mumbled pathetically, as though that explained everything.

 

"Whatever."  Michael scoffed.  "You're just lucky that I'm nice enough to drive you home even though you're trying to make me sweat to death."

 

Geoff and Griffon were both out of town at the moment, each on their own business on separate ends of the earth, so Gavin had the house to himself.  Geoff was expected back sometime very late tonight (or tomorrow morning, technically speaking), granted that the storm didn't stop him.  All that to say that there weren't too many people left at Rooster Teeth to take Gavin home by the time he'd finally gotten to a safe stopping point with his work.

 

"Thanks, boi."  Gavin mumbled through the scarf that he'd pulled up over his mouth and nose.

 

Michael snorted, but otherwise remained silent as he focused on driving for the remainder of the short trip.

 

 

The second Gavin made it inside the house, he rushed to the thermostat to turn the temperature up higher than was usually allowed by Geoff.  Gavin would be sure to pay for the extra high electric bill, but he'd rather die than be cold for a second longer.  With the heat kicking in, he felt brave enough to remove all of his winter clothes and switch them up for some well-worn pajamas.  He grabbed one of his space heaters from his bedroom before heading to the living room.  He plopped himself down on the couch to marathon shows on Netflix.  Between the warmth of the house, the space heater blowing extra warmth on him still, and the familiar show playing, Gavin was finally comfortable.  After a couple of hours, he was lulled into a warm and cozy sleep.

 

Unfortunately, this meant that he was in too deep a sleep to notice when the storm caused the power to shut off a few hours later, cutting off the television and, more importantly, all of the heating.

 

* * *

 

 

Geoff's flight had managed to make it to the Houston airport early that evening, where he was originally scheduled to have a couple-hour layover before catching a flight to Austin.  He'd had many people point out to him how stupid it was for him to wait that long, when he could just drive back to Austin in that amount of time, but Geoff thought it was funny and valued the opportunity to get hammered at an airport bar for two hours instead of driving.

 

However, when he landed in Houston and realized that every flight was cancelled thanks to the bad weather, his plans definitely changed.  He spent an hour negotiating a full refund for his ticket to Austin and even longer trying to find somewhere to rent a car after normal business hours, especially since the rental company didn't really want someone driving through the storm.  After a fierce discussion that ended in him having to get the optional insurance for the rental car, he was finally on the road, looking forward to going it home and sleeping in his own bed.

 

By the time he made it home, the storm was kicking up in full force, burying Austin in snow.  Geoff took a moment to appreciate the rare sight before heading to the front door.  He fully expected to be hit by a heat wave when he opened the door since he was in a constant battle over the thermostat with Gavin, so he was quite shocked when the door swung open to find that it was just as cold inside as it was outside.

 

"Shiiiiiiit." He swore as he realized that the power must have cut out some hours ago.

 

He hugged his coat closer to him as he dropped his suitcase by the front door and made his way into the living room.  He noticed a puff of light brown hair sticking up over the arm of the couch, and chuckled, thinking that Gavin had probably fallen asleep bundled up on the couch like he frequently did on nights when Geoff left the thermostat on a temperature that the boy deemed too cold.  He made his way around the couch to wake the boy up, only to have his eyes widen in shock when he saw that Gavin wasn't bundled up in blankets at all.  In fact, he was only wearing some threadbare pajamas.  Geoff felt a shock shoot through his heart as he saw that the bird hybrid's lips were tinged with blue, and he couldn't see any movement from his chest to indicate that he was breathing.  In a frenzy, he dropped to his knees by the couch, reaching out to touch Gavin's face only to find it ice cold.

 

"Fuck! Gavin! GAVIN!" He slapped the boy's cheek to try to get some kind of response from him, but his head only fell limply to the side.

 

Geoff wrapped an arm around the bird's back, careful of his wings, gingerly lifting him up as he leaned his own head down to press an ear to his seemingly still chest.  He held his breath as he listened for anything to tell him that his friend was still alive.  Relief washed through him as he heard the telltale beating of his heart, even if it was weaker than it should be.  He needed to act fast.

 

Geoff yanked his phone from his pocket, simultaneously sprinting to the nearby closet where they stored extra blankets, and dialed 911.

 

"I have a bird hybrid suffering from severe hypothermia that needs medical care NOW!"  Geoff yelled in his phone, wrapping Gavin in blanket after blanket as he delivered rapid-fire information to the emergency operator. "He must have been asleep when the power went out, so he wasn't covered up with anything to protect against the cold.  I just got home, so I have no idea how long he's been like this.  He's still breathing, but it's weak and his lips are blue!"

 

Sensing his increasing panic, the operator responded.  "Okay, sir, please try to remain calm.  An ambulance is on its way, but you need to try to get him warm as soon as possible.  Is there any source of heat available to you, such as a fireplace or wood-burning stove?"

 

"No, shit, we don't have anything like that." Geoff's thoughts race, "OH!  The car!  My car should still be warm and I can run the heat from there."

 

He followed the operator's orders to carefully bundle Gavin up before exposing him to the cold air outside, then he scooped the light man up and rushed him outside.  He carefully held Gavin against his chest as he pulled one of the back doors open and laid Gavin down on the back seat.  Geoff then made his way to the driver's door to climb inside and start the car.  He turned the heat on full blast, angling the vents towards the back as best as he could.  He pulled the parking break on, and then climbed over the middle console to join Gavin in the back.

 

He carefully lifted the pile of blankets off of Gavin so that he could climb in with him, the voice on the phone instructing him that physical contact was the safest way to warm the bird up.  He covered Gavin's body with his own, wedging Gavin into the corner so that he was protected from all sides.  He pulled the blankets over the both of them, and pressed Gavin's frigid nose into the crook of his neck.

 

"Wow, you've really outdone yourself this time, moron.  What kind of idiot freezes to death indoors in Texas?"  He weakly joked to the still-unconscious man, warm breath making Gavin's hair dance. "I hope you know that Griffon and I will force you into 20 layers of clothing every day for the rest of your goddam life, Gav."

 

Gavin was so entirely still and silent, and Geoff felt a choked sob rip itself from his throat against his will.

 

"Oh, Gav."  He whispered, voice breaking.  He hugged the limp boy tightly as he began weeping in earnest, whole body shaking with fear.

 

By the time the sounds of sirens echoed in the distance, Geoff had managed to smother his tears enough that he could now tell that Gavin had started shivering violently, which he recognized with some relief as a good sign.  When the ambulance pulled into the driveway, he lifted off of Gavin and exited the car to usher the EMTs in the right direction.  As they loaded the bird hybrid onto a gurney, Geoff turned off the car and hurried to pile into the ambulance.  Geoff held Gavin's hand as the EMTs started working.

 

At some point in their journey to the hospital, Gavin briefly regained consciousness, eyes blinking slowly open and surveying the surroundings.  Eventually, his unfocused sights landed on Geoff, and he struggled to speak, words slurring like his tongue was too think for his mouth.  "Daaaad?  'M sssso cold..." And then his voice drifted out and his eyes slipped shut again, missing the way fresh tears welled up in Geoff's eyes.

 

* * *

 

 

Geoff found himself sitting in the same seat in the too-familiar waiting room, numbly filling out the similarly familiar paperwork.  Exhaustion hit him like a brick wall as his mind finally had time to process the events of the night.  Needless to say, this isn't how he expected the evening to go, chuckling wetting with hot tears falling down his face again, as he thought about how he'd been planning to get drunk at some random airport bar some hours earlier.

 

He pulled his phone out to text a few key people that came to mind:  Griffon, Michael, Burnie...  With that done, he let his head fall into his hands, trying to will some of the tension out of his body, knowing that Gavin would be okay.  He needed to keep a closer eye on his idiotic, careless bird-brain in the future.


	3. Gavin & Achievement Hunter, Asthma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone really should I mentioned to the Achievement Hunter guys that air freshener and bird lungs don't mix.

At some point in time, everyone learns that miners used to bring a canary in a cage with them into the tunnels as a warning for themselves when the air became dangerous. See, birds have a rather unique respiratory system that happens to make them more susceptible to toxins in the air. Any bird owner could tell you that you have to be very careful, and never use household items like bleach, incense, or even air fresheners, lest you kill your bird.

 

When Gavin first heard those stories as a child, he had cried inconsolably for hours while his parents patted him on the back and promised that he was safe. As a hybrid, Gavin didn't actually have an avian respiratory system. Instead, he had human lungs and asthma, that was primarily triggered by harsh chemicals. His parents only used natural cleaners at home, fragrance-free detergents, and always kept extra inhalers. They'd even taken to forcing inhalers on his closest friends since Gavin was forgetful, and often forget them at home. Things had been very similar at Geoff's thanks to Griffon also being a bird hybrid, and Gavin quickly learned which American brands to seek out and which ones to avoid, so he was well prepared once he started living on his own.

 

Unfortunately, years without having an asthma attack had lulled Gavin into a state of complacency and he'd never really kicked the bad habit of leaving his inhaler at home.

 

Today, Gavin was sitting at his battered desk in the tiny Achievement Hunter office that he shared with five other men. He had his noise-cancelling headphones on and was deeply absorbed in his work editing Slow Mo Guys footage.

 

"Ugh, it smells like shit in here." Jack spoke, face twisted in disgust as he entered the office with arms full of bags of food. "I can't stand it any more. I'll throw up if I have to smell all this dude sweat while I eat."

 

Michael was already upon Jack, digging through the bags of food. "Just get some air freshener or something and shut the fuck up." He took two helpings of food, tossing half of it onto Gavin's desk before digging into his own hamburger. Gavin didn't even look up, just gave Michael a thumbs up as he picked up some fries with one hand so that he could keep working.

 

Jack sighed, set the food down on Geoff's currently unoccupied desk, and trudged out of the office to hunt for some Febreze. He was back only a few moments later and started spraying it liberally all over the office in a vain attempt to cover up the smells of six men.

 

Gavin was too absorbed in his work to really notice the change in odors, especially since he had a burger only an inch from his nose. So when he felt a tickle in his throat, he just figured some food had gone down the wrong pipe. He set his food down and tried clearly his throat, only to find that he really needed to cough. After the first couple of coughs came, he realized that he couldn't stop.

 

Michael looked over at his friend sympathetically. "Did you swallow wrong?" Realizing Gavin couldn't hear him, he pulled his headphones off and asked again.

 

Gavin looked up at Michael, and managed to stop the coughing enough to gasp out, "I don't know... I just... Can't seem... to catch my breath..." He couldn't get much more out as his air passages were feeling tighter now, and all he could do was wheeze as he put his hands to his throat. It was then that he recognized the feeling and managed to get out one last word to Michael as he felt himself getting weak from the lack of oxygen. "Asthma."

 

Michael's eyes filled with panic that was mirrored in Gavin's own eyes. "Fuck! Do you have an inhaler?!?!"

 

Gavin shook his head, face pale and covered in a sheen of sweat.

 

By now, everyone else in the office had noticed the commotion, and were suddenly at Gavin's side. Jack and Ryan helped ease Gavin out of his chair, noticing that he was starting to slump precariously, while Ray rushed to open their door to get some fresh air in.

 

"Shit, Gavin, I didn't know you had asthma. I would have never sprayed that crap otherwise!" Jack exclaimed, holding Gavin up with his own body. Gavin just shook his head, patting Jack's hand clumsily and he continued to struggle for breath.

 

Michael was now in the open door way screaming at whatever poor people happened to be outside, sending people running in various directions shouting that they needed an inhaler. Ryan was calling 911, and Ray sat at Gavin's side making dumb comments to distract him.

 

"Hey, shout out to _The Goonies_ , am I right?"

 

Gavin smiled weakly at him, but couldn't get enough air to laugh.

 

Michael stormed back in, fuming.  "How the fuck does no one else in this company not have an inhaler?!?!"

 

As they all sat there anxiously awaiting the ambulance, not knowing what to do, Geoff walked in.  He immediately stopped short in the doorway at the scene he'd walked in on.  He breathed in, and immediately asked, "Which one of your morons sprayed air freshener on our bird?"

 

Jack guiltily raised his hand, but Geoff had already started moving into the office and yanked one of his desk drawers open.  He reached inside and pulled out an inhaler, and shaking it as he went to kneel at Gavin's side.

 

Geoff ripped off the cap, and pressed the mouthpiece to Gavin's lips.  "Breathe in.  Hold it...  Okay, now breath out.  Good, let's do that again."

 

After the first dose, Gavin had started to feel better, and after the second his breathing was noticeably healthier.  "Thanks, Geoffrey."

 

"Any time, buddy.  But I'm gonna fucking murder you myself if I find out you've been walking around without an inhaler again."  Geoff ruffled Gavin's hair, and let himself fall back onto his butt.  "You trying to set some kind of record for 'most trips to a single hospital' or something?"

 

Gavin groaned, leaning back into Jack's chest with a pout on his face, "Do I have to go again?  I think the nurses have started betting on when I'll be back?"

 

Everyone looked at him with exaggerated pity barely concealing their lingering fear as they waited for the ambulance to arrive.

 

Luckily, Gavin had only had to spend a couple hours at the hospital before he was allowed to go home.  When he went to the front desk to finish up some paperwork, he found Jack there waiting for him.

 

"Wot are you still doing here?"

 

"I still feel like shit for almost killing you, so I thought that the least I could do was stay here to give you a ride home.  Though I should tell you that Geoff gave me orders that you're to be brought to his house tonight so you don't die in the middle of the night."

 

Gavin smiled at the bearded man, "'S not your fault.  I never remember to tell people, and I went and left my bloody inhaler at home again.  Don't even worry about it."

 

Jack smiled back and led Gavin out to his car.

 

* * *

 

When Gavin came in with Geoff the next day, he was surprised to see all the other Achievement Hunters standing there with their arms behind their backs, faces solemn.

 

"Wot's all this then?"

 

"This is an intervention,"  Ryan said with a stern look on his face.

 

"That's right dipshit!  If you can't take care of yourself, I guess we have to do it."  Michael agreed, and then they all pulled theirs arms out from behind their backs to reveal that they were all holding inhalers.


	4. Gavin/Michael and Gavin&Geoff, Broken Wing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin has been injured a lot in his time, but nothing could have ever prepared him for the day that he broke his wing. Unable to fly, he sinks into a deep and dangerous depression...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Yourwritingco for the prompt!

Things had been going splendidly for Gavin the past few months.  Work was going unbelievably well, both for Achievement Hunter and for Slow Mo Guys.  He and Michael had also grown closer and closer still, which was quite the feat since they’d been inseparable in the first place.  At this point, they both had spare keys to the other’s apartment.  Not to mention, Gavin was proud to report that he had been super-duper careful and hadn’t needed to go to the hospital in months!  Gavin’s life had been going so well, that he really should have been suspicious.

 

As it turns out, this had all been the calm before a ferocious storm that none of them could have anticipated.

 

* * *

 

 

“Micool, give it back!”  Gavin shouted as he chased the laughing cat through the hallways at work.

 

“Try and take it from me, dipshit!”  Michael shouted triumphantly, hoisting Gavin’s umbrella in the air.  The cat hybrid abruptly changed directions, tail whipping around to help him maintain balance.

 

“No fair!”  Gavin yelled after him as he attempted to follow suit, his large wings making it a clumsy turn.

 

Michael cackled as he sprinted through the lobby, gracefully leaping over a puddle of water that had collected in front of the door from all the people coming in from the rain.

 

Unfortunately, Gavin hadn’t noticed the puddle before he was already upon it, heel landing right in the water.  He could feel his stomach flip as his foot shot out from under him, and he seemed to almost hover in midair for a second before he fell, full body weight crashing down on his right wing.

 

There was an audible _CRACK_ , before Gavin’s world went white with pain and he knew no more.

 

* * *

 

 

Gavin almost didn’t believe it when his (unfortunately familiar) doctor told him that he had broken his wing.  Perhaps he had been there enough times that they thought it was okay to pull pranks on him.  And after all, he had just slipped on a wet floor, so surely he was fine.  But no, he _had_ broken his wing, and he could remember it happening.  He felt surprisingly calm at the revelation.

 

No, not calm.  _Numb_.

 

Gavin had sustained so many injuries throughout his life, but he had never broken his wing.  His wings were more important to him that his arms or legs, and he wished he’d broken one of his other limbs instead.  He dropped his eyes to his lap, locking onto where his hand sat intertwined with Michael’s.

 

“How…”  Gavin’s voice was barely above a gasp, so he cleared his throat and tried again.  “How long until I can fly?”

 

“That will depend on how quickly your body heals, but it will probably be at least three weeks before it will be healed enough to remove the bandages.  After that, there will be some physical therapy before…”

 

The doctor’s voice seemed to fade out as Gavin’s mind stuck on the phrase “three weeks.”  It echoed around his head and left him feeling dizzy at the thought of it.

 

“But…  I need to fly?”  He found himself speaking without meaning to, words coming out in a panicked voice that belied how numb he was feeling.

 

“I’m sorry, but that won’t be possible for some time.  I recommend…”  Again, Gavin couldn’t understand what was said after that.

 

He felt his hand get squeezed, making him look up at Michael.  The redhead’s eyes shined with unshed tears, and he mouthed an apology to the bird hybrid.  Gavin just shook his head in response, and zoned out while Michael conversed with the doctor to figure out medications, home care, follow-up appointments…

 

Michael herded Gavin into his car after they left the hospital, and before Gavin knew it, they were at Michael’s apartment.  He robotically went through the motions of getting changed for bed, trying not to cry when he realized that he needed Michael’s help.  Gavin managed to keep his emotions in check until he had to lay down on his stomach to avoid injuring his wing in his sleep.

 

“I don't like to sleep on my stomach, Micool~”  Gavin wailed, all the stress of the ordeal catching up to him at once.

 

Michael could do little more than whisper soothing nothings into Gavin’s ear and stroke his hair and one good wing until he stopped crying.

 

Hours later, Michael had fallen asleep and Gavin just stared at a spot on the wall, feeling trapped under the weight of his constricted wings, until sunlight started filtering through the blinds.

 

* * *

 

 

Despite Michael’s many protests, Gavin insisted on going to work with him the next day.  He just wanted to pretend like nothing had happened and have something to distract from the restless itching he felt in his shoulder blades.

 

Gavin regretted the decision the second they walked into the Achievement Hunter office.  Everyone was upon him at once, asking questions, expressing concern, _overwhelming him_.

 

He did his best to reassure everyone, joking weakly about how typical it is that he would injure himself on a puddle just in time to spoil the weekend, despite the fact that there was nothing typical about this situation at all. 

 

After successfully calming down the herd, Gavin tried to distract himself with work, but found that he could barely focus.  Time passed in a blur, and soon enough it was lunchtime.

 

“Gav, what are you in the mood for?  We can go wherever you want.”  Jack asked the bird hybrid, concern evident in his voice.

 

Gavin couldn’t even fathom the idea of eating.  “Actually, I think the pain meds are messing with my stomach.  You go ahead and go on without me.  I think I’ll just grab a snack from the fridge.”

 

Everyone looked at him hesitantly, but soon enough hunger was persuasion enough to get them most of them to leave, save Michael and Geoff.

 

“Text me if you change your mind, and I’ll bring you something back.”  Michael told him, ruffling the bird hybrid’s hair gently.

 

“Don’t worry, boi.  I’ll eat lots at dinner, I pinky promise.”  Gavin stated, hoping that maybe he’d have an appetite at that point.

 

Michael wrapped his pinky around Gavin’s and shook on it.  “I’ll hold you to that, bird brain.”

 

Geoff approached next.  He just stuck an accusatory finger in his face.  “You’ll eat dinner whether you like it or not.”

 

Gavin just nodded, forced smile plastered on his face.

Gavin heaved a sigh of relief after they’d all left.  He felt drained and just wanted to be alone, wishing he hadn’t insisted on coming to work today.  Mind made up, he pulled his phone out and booked himself a ride home.  He scribbled out a quick note to tell everyone that he was going home to rest, he hurried out of the office as quickly as possible.

 

* * *

 

 

Gavin stared down at his phone with trepidation.  He was sitting cross-legged on his bed, shirt removed (thank god Michael had had some of Gavin’s button-up shirts with slits in the back, or Gavin might never have been able to get the damn thing off) and wearing only pajama pants.

 

At the moment, his phone was buzzing, lit up with a picture of Michael calling.  With a sigh, Gavin answered the phone.

 

“Hullo?”

 

“Gavin!  Are you okay?  Are you at your place?  I’ll be right over!”  Michael spouted out in a rush.

 

“NO!”  Gavin shouted in panic before he realized what he’d done.  “No, Micool, finish up at work.  I’m just going to take a nap anyway.”

 

“I don’t know, Gav…”

 

“It’ll be fine Michael.”

 

“I guess so.”

 

Gavin sighed in relief, and wished Micahel a happy rest of the day before hanging up.  He just wanted to be alone for a little while…

 

While he had hoped that spending the next few hours alone would make him feel better, Gavin found himself just watching the clock for the entire time, dread compounding by the hour.  He would usually be excited at the idea of spending the weekend with Michael, but now he found himself nauseous at the thought of it.

 

As the numbers crept to the time that they would usually be leaving work, Gavin found himself texting Michael.

 

_“I hope you don’t mind, but I think I’d actually like to spend the weekend at Geoff’s to be with just Griffon.  Bird thing, ya’know?”_

 

Seconds later, his phone chimed with Michael’s response.  “ _Oh, okay.  Well, I’m just glad that someone’ll be there to protect you from yourself.  Let me know if you feel up to doing anything.”_

Gavin didn’t respond, but that wouldn’t be anything new as he was already infamous for not answering texts and emails if he deemed the conversation done.

 

He felt only a little bit guilty as he texted Geoff and Griffon.  “ _Hey, I know you two must be driving yourselves mad with worry, but I’m going to be staying with Michael for the weekend.  We’ll probably be too busy to answer the phone, if you know what I mean ;D”_

With that taken care of, he switched his phone off and tossed it onto the bedside table.  He was so physically exhausted after having not slept the previous night, but the profound ache in his body at his inability to use his wings kept him awake.

 

Gavin wasn’t sure how long he sat there in bed staring at the wall, but it occurred to him that he should really get up and eat something so that he could take his medication.  However, he found that he still had no appetite, so instead he just flopped down onto his uninjured side – doctor’s recommendations be damned – and curled into himself.  He stared out the window unseeing.

 

* * *

 

 

Michael had been beside himself with worry all weekend.  He’d tried texting Gavin a couple of times, with no response.  His first instinct made him want to go storming into the Ramsey’s house to check on Gavin, but the logical part of his brain tried to tell him that this was pretty normal behavior from Gavin.

 

It also wasn’t exactly like this was the first time that Gavin had been hurt, and most of those other times, he’d stayed with Geoff and Griffon as well.  While Michael wished that _he_ could be the one to look after Gavin, he understood that they were like secondary parents to Gavin, so he didn’t want to be a complete ass about it.

 

When Monday finally rolled around, Michael came into work unusually early, full or nervous energy and hoping to see Gavin as soon as possible.  Naturally, most of the Achievement Hunters were absent since it was so early in the day, but Michael was happy to see that Geoff was already in.

 

“Yo bossman.  Where’s Gavvy?”

 

Geoff looked up at him sharply.  “Are you fucking with me?  Gav told me that he was staying with you this weekend.”

 

Michael drew in a sharp breath.  “But he told me that he was staying with you to be with Griffon because it was bird shit.”

 

They two men stared at each other for a second as the pieces fell into places.  In a rush, they both sprinted out of the office and into the parking lot, piling into Geoff’s car and racing down the road to Gavin’s apartment.

 

* * *

 

 

Gavin was so tired.  He just wanted it all to stop.  His head ached, his body ached, his wings…

 

Gavin’s mind seemed to short circuit when his thoughts drifted to his wings, as it had been wont to do lately.

 

God, how long had it been?  Gavin wasn’t really sure, but it felt like an eternity.

 

A sharp throb rippled down his broken wing.

 

_Broken… I’m broken…_

 

He wished his head would stop pounding.  It had gotten to the point that the pounding almost seemed like it had escaped his body and was now a sound in its own right, echoing through his apartment.

 

 _Oh, that’s knocking_.  The thought occurred to him, but just as quickly he dismissed it, hoping that it would stop soon.

 

Gavin was glad when it finally stopped, but he scrunched his face up in discomfort when the loud knocking was replaced by a slamming door and then loud voices echoing through his apartment.  He covered his ears with his hands.

 

Moments passed, and then hands were covering his own, pulling them away from his head.

 

“Gavin?!!?”  The bird hybrid opened his eyes to see Michael very close to his face, and Geoff a couple feet behind him.  “What happened?  What’s wrong?”

 

Gavin stared blankly at him for a second.  “M’ wing is broken.  I can’t fly.”

 

Michael looked confused, turning away to face Geoff who was actively crying (a fact that he would later deny fiercely).

 

“Gav, when was the last time that you ate anything?”

 

“Or got any sleep for that matter?”  Geoff chimed in, noticing the pronounced bags under Gavin’s eyes.

 

Gavin just let out a huff of air.  “Before my wing…”

 

“Shit!  Are you fucking kidding me?”  Michael swore as he dug out his phone.  “Guess who’s going back to the hospital?”

 

* * *

 

 

This trip to the hospital was a little different.  For one thing, Gavin was going to have to stay longer, both because he was severely dehydrated and because he was considered a danger to himself.  More notably, however, was the fact that he’d had to meet a therapist this time around.  Apparently it was fairly common for birds to get depressed and isolate themselves after a wing injury.  So, with some extra attentive care from Michael and Geoff, plus some additional medications to try and help with the anxiety and depression, Gavin survived.

 

A month later, Gavin was officially cleared to fly again.  As he took off from the ground the second he left the hospital, he felt like he could breathe again.  No one would be able to stop him from flying literally every time that he possibly could for the foreseeable future.

 

Michael and Geoff, for the record, were just glad to see Gavin smile again


	5. Gavin & Dan, Shot by Hunters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lovely day in the woods filming Slow Mo Guys videos with Dan goes very wrong very quickly when a pair of hybrid hunters target Gavin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am very sorry for the delay in posting! Thank you again to Yourwritingco for the prompt, and for the continuous support of this story!

Gavin had been looking forward to today for ages, the day that he and Dan would be filming a set of new Slow Mo Guys videos in a relatively remote location.  Gavin’s wing was fully healed, and he was done with physical therapy, which Gavin told everyone that he passed with “flying” colors, no matter how many people told him there were no scores in therapy and it wasn’t even a clever pun.  Unfortunately, there weren’t many places in the city where he could really stretch his wings and go for a proper flight, which is part of why he and Dan had decided to go somewhere more natural and secluded for this batch of videos.

 

Dan had actually come to the US while Gavin was still recovering, wracked with worry when he’d found out how poorly his childhood friend was doing.  Of course Gavin had a strong support system in Austin between Michael, the Ramseys, and everyone at Rooster Teeth, but having his longtime best friend Dan there cheered him up immensely.  Dan understood Gavin’s depression over his broken wing better than almost anyone else, and he was intensely protective of Gavin.

 

Now, Gavin was sitting in the passenger seat of Dan’s rental car, head out the window to smell the forest air and feel the wind in his hair.  Meanwhile, Dan was driving down the narrow pathway through the trees, glancing at Gavin out of the corner of his eye and smiling at his infectious excitement.  They parked on the edge of a clearing, and got everything set up for recording.  After they were done filming for the day, Gavin was finally ready to go for a flight above the trees.

 

“Make sure to fly back over the clearing every few minutes so that I can know you’re still doing okay, B.  The doctor said you still need to be careful not to overdo it.” Dan gently scolded.

 

“Yeah, yeah.”  Gavin said, waving his friend off carelessly as he spread his wings and took off.

 

“I MEAN IT!”  Dan shouted after the bird hybrid, smiling despite himself as he settled down to eat a snack and play on his phone.

 

* * *

 

A thrill shot through Gavin the second that he was off the ground.  He flapped his wings hard and quickly breached the treetops, whooping as he did some loops and flips to show off for Dan, before he quickly moved on to cover as much area as he could.

 

Gavin loved just gliding like this, high above the earth with clear skies above him and the sun warming his feathers and hair.  He felt invincible and powerful and peaceful.  He knew that he shouldn’t keep Dan waiting too long, but Gavin couldn’t help himself and ended up soaring around for close to an hour, looping back over the clearing every 10 minutes and shouting profanities down at Dan before speeding off, laughing in utter joy.

 

It wasn’t long after the hour mark that he felt his Apple watch buzz on his wrist and looked down to see a text from Dan.

 

_Time to go._

 

Gavin hovered in the air for a moment, looking across the sky to see that the sun was about to set.  He turned back to his watch before he tapped back a short reply of “ok.”

 

He turned and readied himself to fly back when he suddenly felt a jolt of stabbing, electric pain rip through him, barely registering the explosive sound of a gun that seemed to dully echo in his ears like he was under several feet of water.  Gavin glanced down at his body, where he felt a searing heat radiating in his stomach to see a wet black stain spreading across his Slow Mo Guys shirt.

 

Momentarily fascinated by the sight swirling in front of his eyes, Gavin let out a soft “oh,” only just realizing that he was falling.  He slammed through the first layer of branches and leaves and agony tore away his consciousness.

 

* * *

 

Dan felt a little bad to cut Gavin’s fun short, but there was only so much light left in the day and they had a long drive back to Austin.  He was pleased that he’d gotten a response from Gavin so easily.

 

He had just finished loading the last of their gear back into the car when he heard a gunshot.  His wolf ears perked up on his head as he dropped what he was carrying and looked up, trying to pinpoint where the sound had come from.  His military training kicked in immediately, especially considering the fact that hunting wasn’t allowed in this area.  When he heard the distant sound of something large crashing into the trees, his blood ran cold.

 

He had a singular thought in his mind as his ears flattened and his eyes narrowed:  _Gavin is in trouble!_

 

Dan’s instincts took over and he took off at a full sprint, a terrifying blur of natural wolf abilities combined with years of physical training.

 

* * *

 

Gavin was aware of only a burning pain in his abdomen and an icy numbness spreading throughout the rest of his body.  It took him a long time before he realized that there were voices above him.

 

“Haha!  We got one of the dirty cross-breeds!”  One voice said triumphantly above him.

 

“Damn right.  The wings on this one are gonna sell for a lot.”  Another voice spoke with a gruff, southern accent.

 

Gavin tried to move, to open his eyes, to do anything, but even the slightest tensing of muscles caused his vision to go white with pain.  A whimper escaped his throat against his will.

 

“Shit, it’s alive?!”  The first man sounded flabbergasted.

 

“Not for long.”  Said the second with a growl.

 

Gavin yelped when he felt a booted foot kick his side hard before coming down to step on his throat.  His whole body was wracked with tremors, from fear and from the aching cold.  His consciousness started fading again as he heard a gun being cocked.

 

* * *

 

It wasn’t long before Dan was upon them.  In a matter of seconds, he took in the scene:  Two men in hunting gear, leering down at their “prey;” His childhood friend on the ground, covered in blood, hauntingly pale and still; One of the men standing on Gavin’s throat with a gun pointed at his head.

 

A growl shattered the silence of the forest, and Dan’s body and mind went blind with berserk rage.  He set upon the two humans with teeth and claws, slashing and tearing violently, beside himself with a protective aggression.

 

Unsure exactly how long the one-sided battle went on, Dan came back to himself panting with blood dripping from his hands and face, the two men laying battered at his feet.  He wasted no time to check if they were alive or dead, rushing to his friend’s side.

 

His heart broke at the sight of Gavin, and tears dripped down his face as he pressed two fingers at his wrist to check for a pulse, simultaneously pressing an ear gently to his chest.  Though faint, there was a sure pulse, and Gavin was breathing.  Dan grasped Gavin’s face with hands, not caring about the smears of blood he was causing.

 

“Gav?”  He questioned in a quiet, shaking voice.  He tried again louder when he didn’t garner a response. “Gavin?”

 

Dan wasn’t too surprised that Gavin didn’t wake up, so he refocused and got to work.  He ripped off his torn, stained lab coat, balling it up before pressing it firmly against the wound on Gavin’s stomach.

 

Immediately Gavin’s eyes shot open as he screamed in agony.  He tried to thrash away, but was too weak to do much.  Instead he just dissolved into sobs.

 

“No, no, no.”  Gavin begged, breaking Dan’s heart. “Please stop!”

 

“I can’t, B.  I’m so sorry.”  Dan’s voice broke with a sob.

 

Gavin took a shuddering breath, blinking unfocused eyes.  “D-Dan?”

 

“That’s right.  I’m going to take care of you.”

 

Gavin didn’t seem to hear him.  “Are you hurt?  You’re bleeding.”

 

“It’s not mine.  You’re the one that’s hurt, mate.”

 

Gavin’s eye’s fell closed again as he relaxed in obvious relief that Dan was okay.  “I’m cold.  Did the power go out again?”

 

Dan carefully lifted Gavin off the ground to cradle him against his own body.  “I’ve got you.  Does that feel better?”  He whispered into Gavin’s hair.

 

“Mmm, you’re warm, B.”  Gavin didn’t speak again after that, falling completely limp in Dan’s arms.

 

Wracked with fear for his friend, Dan knew that Gavin needed proper medical treatment.  There was no way that an ambulance could make it down the narrow, unpaved road that they had traveled down.  He called 911 and arranged to have them meet at the edge of the forest, and he scooped Gavin up in his arms, running back to the car.

 

Gavin had fallen unconscious again at the pain of Dan picking him up.  He briefly woke up when he was jostled again as Dan loaded him into the passenger seat and buckled him in, but he faded again quickly, meaning that he didn’t hear the quiet sobs and prayers coming from the driver’s seat.

 

* * *

 

Gavin woke up to the familiar sounds and smells of a hospital room.

 

“Ugh, not again.”  He muttered to himself without even opening his eyes.

 

“Afraid so, dipshit.”  He recognized Michael’s voice, and finally opened his eyes.

 

After a moment of adjusting to the blinding florescent lights bouncing off the while walls and bedspread, Gavin looking to find Michael sitting in a chair next to him, holding his hand.

 

Gavin’s mind was sluggish from all the drugs coursing through his veins.  “What happened?”

 

“You got shot by some hybrid hunters while you were working on some Slow Mo Guys shit with Dan.”  Michael told him in an uncharacteristically quiet voice.  “You just attract danger, don’t you?”

 

Gavin slowly pieced together shreds of memory.  Flying and laughing, the sudden pain of being shot, the two men, _Dan covered in blood_.

 

“Dan!  Where is he?  Is he okay?”  Gavin asked, trying to sit up, but Michael pushed him back down.

 

“He’s in perfect health, but beside himself with worry.  He wanted to be here when you woke up, but…. Uh…”  Michael rubbed at the back of his neck.  “Dan’s actually in jail right now.”

 

Gavin blinked in surprise.  “Huh?”

 

“Dan attacked those bastards that shot you.  One of them is in the ICU here, but one of them was dead by the time the cops found them.  They're not even sure if the second guy is gonna make it.  I’d go kill him myself right now if there wasn’t a piggy guarding his room.”

 

“But he was protecting me!  Can’t you kill a bloke in self-defense in Texas?”  Gavin asked in a tizzy.

 

Michael huffed out angrily, running a hand through his curls.  “Yeah, but Dan’s not an American citizen, boi.  Don’t worry, though.  Burnie, Gus, and Geoff apparently all showed up with lawyers.  Caused quite a scene, I heard.”

 

Gavin relaxed, feeling a little better, and also feeling sleepiness tugging at his mind.  “Can’t believe that I have a friend that literally killed a guy for me.  Is it weird that that makes me happy?”

 

Michael smiled sadly down at Gavin, “He’s not the only one who would…  You make people want to protect you.”

 

Gavin mumbled something incoherent, hand fumbling to lace his fingers with Michael’s.  He felt a kiss on his forehead before he fell back asleep.

 

* * *

 

Gavin felt a lot more clear-headed the next time he woke up, pulled from sleep by nagging pain all over his body.  He groaned as he opened his eyes, thinking he should probably buzz for a nurse to get his next dose of pain meds.

 

His eyes landed on Dan this time, passed out in gracelessly the chair by his bed.  Gavin smiled a little, reaching a hand over to poke Dan’s arm.

 

Dan woke with a start, frantic eyes flying around the room until they landed on Gavin.

 

“You’re awake!  How do you feel?  What do you need?  Should I call a doctor?”  Dan was already standing up to run to the door when he felt weak fingers encircle his wrist.  He looked back at Gavin, who was smiling back at him.

 

“I’m okay.  Sit back down.”  Gavin let go of Dan and patted the empty space on the bed beside him.  “Help me sit up.”

 

Dan was at his side in a second, strong arms gingerly reaching under Gavin’s back to help prop him up on the pillows, watching Gavin’s face as he winced.  Dan perched tentatively on the bed next to his friend, watching him fiercely.

 

Gavin chuckled.  “You look like absolute shit, Dan.”

 

And it was true.  Dan had dark circles under his eyes, the scraggly start to a beard, hair standing up in every direction, and rumpled clothing that clearly did not belong to him.  Gavin was honestly surprised that Dan didn’t still have blood on him.

 

Dan looked down at himself and shrugged.  “They took my clothes and made me shower at the police station, and then gave me a t-shirt and sweatpants from lost and found.  I came straight here when I got released.”

 

“Sorry that you got in trouble for me.”

 

Dan frowned, eyes darkening.  “I’m not sorry.  I’m glad they’re dead.”  Gavin took the news of the second man’s death in stride, wondering again if he shouldn't be more disturbed about the fact that his friend had killed people for him.

 

Gavin tutted and patted Dan’s hand.  “Not to sound ungrateful, but you do know that killing people is generally pretty bad, yeah?”

 

Dan turned his whole body to Gavin, then, grasping his face between his hands.  “They would have killed you, Gav.  I won’t let anyone hurt you.  You’re part of my pack.”

 

Gavin looked at Dan with wide eyes, surprised by the intensity behind Dan’s declaration.  They stared at each other unblinkingly until the pain in Gavin’s abdomen made itself known again, and he fell back with a pained gasp.

 

Immediately Dan was up and calling for a nurse.

 

“I’m fine.”  Gavin said through gritted teeth, trying to wave off the worried wolf and doting nurse.

 

“You’re got a bullet wound, cracked ribs, and bruises everywhere.  I don’t think that counts as fine.  Take the pain meds and go back to sleep.  I’ll be here when you wake up.”  Dan said matter-of-factly as he settled back into his chair.

 

Gavin sighed in defeat and swallowed the offered pills, letting the nurse check over his injuries.  By the time he was done, Gavin was already half asleep.  He lolled his head to the side to look at Dan.

 

“Thanks, B.”  He mumbled.

 

Dan finally smiled at him, reaching over to smooth Gavin’s hair away from his face.  “Any time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know anything about laws or jail... Just pretend that anything super wrong is normal in this universe....


	6. Gavin&Ryan, Predator vs. Prey Instincts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A heat wave attacks Austin, leaving tensions high in the Achievement Hunter office. Unfortunately for Gavin, he's an annoying bird in an office with two increasingly aggressive cats.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to AweDefiningGod for the prompt!

While hybrids were basically just humans with some unique additions, there were some behavioral differences that came with being part animal.  Typically, these differences were small things, like cat hybrids feeling compelled to sharpen their claws or bird hybrids sometimes obsessively preening their feathers.  Gavin personally felt himself above any such behaviors, and honestly thought for years that people were exaggerating when they talked about hybrids having “animal instincts.”

 

Up until high school at least, where the close quarters, stress, and teenage hormones triggered a lot of over-the-top outbursts from humans and hybrids alike.  It was during finals week that Gavin had finally experienced firsthand some of the things that his family had tried to warn him about.  Everyone was exhausted and panicking about a particularly difficult science test – that Gavin had actually rather enjoyed – and Gavin happened to be at the end of his latest molting season, in which he had been shedding feathers all over the place and dealing with the discomfort of growing in so many new ones at once.

 

It seemed that a cat hybrid in his class had finally snapped when Gavin was one of the first to get up to turn in his test, some loose feathers scattering on a few of the desks he passed.  Gavin was just getting to his teacher’s desk to set his paper in the very small stack of completed tests when he noticed that something was up, and he turned around to locate where the growling sound was coming from.  He scarcely had time to lock eyes with the cat hybrid, before suddenly he leapt from his desk and pounced on Gavin.

 

Gavin had escaped with only minor scratch marks before the other student was pulled off of him, and the cat hybrid had apologized profusely as he came back to his senses.  Gavin brushed it off fairly easily, and considered it a rare occurrence since it never happened to him again, not in high school and not in his adult life working at Rooster Teeth.

 

Really, Gavin should learn his lesson at some point in being too oblivious and optimistic about things involving his health and security.

 

* * *

 

 

A ferocious heat wave was sweeping through Austin, so intense that it had actually caused a lot of people’s air conditioning to break and there had been several heat-related hospitalizations.  Gavin was managing well enough in shorts and a tank top, but he was one of the rare few that wasn’t positively melting in the heat.

 

The Achievement Hunter office was particularly bad off in their tiny, crowded, poorly ventilated box of an office.  No matter how high they turned the AC or how many fans they had running, the temperature kept rising.  By the end of the first couple of days, people were starting to lose their tempers, snapping at each other over every little thing.  They could barely keep it together long enough to record videos together, and by day number 3 they had decided to even put that on hold and just dig up some things from their reserves.

 

Not one to be deterred or to mope, Gavin was doing his best to keep people’s spirits up by fetching cold drinks and treats, and by telling dumb jokes all day long.  At first, everyone seemed to appreciate his efforts, except Michael who yelled at him more than usual, but that’s Michael for you.  Gavin didn’t really take it to heart.  After days passed with no relief, however, they had started to turn on Gavin, angry that he seemed to be the only happy one in the room while everyone else suffered.

 

Michael snapped at everyone for so much as breathing, Geoff moaned and groaned, and Ray up and left the office one day at lunch time saying that he’d had it and hadn’t been back at work since…  Ryan and Jack were keeping it together a little better than the others, descending into irritated silence instead of outright annoyance.

 

That’s why Gavin was deciding to focus his efforts on the two gents that day at the end of the miserable week.

 

“Yo, Rye bread!”  Gavin plopped into the empty desk chair next to Ryan, making it spin in a full circle before he stopped himself while facing the man in question.

 

Ryan sighed a little as he paused what he was doing, took his headset off, and faced Gavin.  “What can I do for you this time?”

 

“I thought you might like a milkshake!”  Gavin smiled at him, offering a styrofoam cup and straw.  Looking around the room, Ryan could see that Gavin must have wordlessly dropped off milkshakes to many of the other men in the room already.

 

Ryan took the offered drink and gladly took a sip, “I don’t understand how you’re not dying like the rest of us right now.  You’re the only one who can stand braving the outdoors enough to go get ice cream.”

 

Gavin shrugged, “My type of bird is better suited for heat than cold, innit?”

 

Ryan nodded a little, but his attention was already being pulled back to his work.  “Well, thanks for this.”

 

Gavin took the hint and left Ryan’s desk to go give the last milkshake to Jack.

 

Deciding to press his luck a little bit, Gavin flung himself onto the lion hybrids back in a sort of hug.  “Jaaaaaaack!  I got you a treat~!”

 

Gavin felt a wave of dizziness and the next thing he knew, he was on the floor gasping.  He looked up to see Jack looming over him with wild eyes.

 

Jack was clearly fighting with himself, even as his pupils dilated and his tail swished.  His fingers kept curling, and Gavin watched his claws going in and out.  He could hear a low rumble coming out of Jack’s chest that had his little bird heart fluttering in true fear.

 

“J-jack?”  Gavin wheezed out, feeling alarmed. “Mate, what’s wro-”

 

“JUST SHUT UP!  WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!!?”  Jack shouted at him, his first time speaking to anyone within the past couple of days.

 

“Huh?”  Gavin looked up from where he had propped himself up on his elbows.

 

“IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY, YOU BIRD BRAIN?”  Jack continued on his tirade.  “YOU’VE BEEN RUNNING AROUND, BOTHERING EVERYONE ALL WEEK, SHOVING IT IN OUR FACES HOW HAPPY YOU ARE!”

 

Gavin started scooting himself backwards on the floor to get away from the increasingly angry lion, not even noticing as his feathers flattening in response to the threat.  He felt his back hit someone’s legs and looked up to see Michael standing over him, only to shrink back away when he saw that Michael looked just as ferocious as Jack in that moment.

 

“Michael, my boi, please…”

 

“No, shithead, he’s fucking right!”  Gavin scrambled to his feet, looking back and forth as he realized that Jack and Michael were closing in on either side of him.  “You’re a pretentious son-of-a-bitch, and I’VE! HAD! IT!”

 

“Whoa!  Everyone needs to calm the fuck down!”  Geoff shouted from where he sat in the corner, but no one seemed to pay him any mind.

 

Michael and Jack both had their claws fully out, crouched down, ready to pounce.  Gavin’s instincts finally overcame him and he squawked, wings flapping in an attempt to escape.

 

That was the worst possible move, as the overtly bird-like behavior finally made both men lose it, and they both lunged at Gavin simultaneously.  Claws dug into his legs, yanking him out of the air and flinging him straight back onto the floor.  Gavin threw his arms up to protect his face and throat, squeezing his eyes shut to block out the sight of the predators hovering over him and tearing at him with teeth and claws.

 

Suddenly there was another loud sound and a whoosh of air above him.  It took a few seconds to process that there was no longer anything slicing him up, and Gavin hesitantly opened his eyes and lowered his arms.

 

Ryan stood firmly over him panting heavily, head lowered to show the full length of his sharp horns.  He made for a terrifying sight, but Gavin quickly assessed that Ryan was protecting him, noticing that Jack and Michael had been knocked down into a pile not too far from him.  Gavin quickly scrambled up to place himself behind Ryan, ignoring the pain in his legs and arms.

 

Jack and Michael seemed to be shaking a fog from their heads as they started to right themselves, looking confusedly at Ryan before their expressions both morphed into horror as they looked at Gavin.

 

“Gavin, holy shit, I’m so sorry!”  Jack tried to rush forward to help his clearly injured friend, only to be interrupted by a terrified screech coming from Gavin’s mouth.

 

Gavin slammed a hand over his mouth, having not meant to make such a sound.  Meanwhile, Ryan stepped even further in front of Gavin, glaring at Jack.

 

“You stay the fuck away from him.”  Gavin had never heard Ryan sound that fierce in real life before.

 

Geoff finally approached the group, hands raised in a placating gesture.  “Look, everyone seriously needs to calm down.  It’s just a little bit of predator and prey fighting because of the hot weather, okay?  Happens to the best of us.”

 

“No, it doesn’t.”  Ryan spoke again, backing away from the other men, herding Gavin back with them until Gavin stood in a corner, defended on all sides.  “I don’t attack _my friends_ just because I’m too hot.  You two need to leave now.”

 

Gavin could still see Michael and Jack from where he stood behind Ryan.  They both looked so dejected that he couldn’t help but feel a little bit bad for them, and he knew that they hadn’t meant to hurt him.  That being said, he couldn’t shake the instinctive fear that he felt when Michael tried to approach him, and he hid behind Ryan even more, burying his face in the bull hybrid’s shirt.

 

“Gavvy…  Boi, I’m sorry…  Please?”  Michael spoke in a teary voice, but Gavin just trembled as he gripped Ryan’s shirt in tight fists.

 

“I’m not fucking joking!”  Ryan addressed the room again.  “Geoff, get them out of here.  I’m taking Gavin to urgent care to get his wounds treated.”

 

Geoff could tell how serious was, and finally conceded, grabbing Jack and Michael’s arms and yanking them out of the room.

 

Neither Gavin nor Ryan moved for several minutes, both still on high alert.  However, the adrenaline only kept Gavin from feeling pain for so long, and finally he gasped in pain as the claw wounds on his legs and arms started throbbing.

 

Ryan spun around and fussed over him immediately, checking the severity of his injuries before scooping Gavin up in his arms and running him out to his car to drive him to a doctor.

 

“Ryan, put me down!  I can walk on my own!”  Gavin protested weakly even as he felt his legs ache.

 

“Not without hurting yourself.  Besides, we’re almost to the car, anyway.”  Ryan seemed so serious that Gavin couldn’t find it in himself to argue.

 

The car ride was silent and tense, as Gavin was still too spooked to do much of anything.  He let out little pained gasps whenever they went over bumps and his wounds were agitated.  Every time he did, Ryan would grip the wheel a little tighter and drive a little faster.

 

It didn’t take long to get to the urgent care clinic, and an hour later Gavin was back in Ryan’s car with a number of stitches and bandages decorating his limbs.  His butt was sore from a rather large antibiotics shot to make sure nothing got infected, and he carried prescriptions for pain meds.

 

He was too tired to realize at first that Ryan was not driving him back to his apartment, “Ryan, where are we going?”

 

“To my house.”  Ryan said as though that explained it all.

 

“But why?”  Gavin asked, not sure of himself anymore after how his coworkers had reacted to him that morning.

 

Ryan looked at him and softened a little when he realized that he was making Gavin nervous.  “Sorry, I’m just still feeling… protective, I guess.  I just can’t stand to see predator/prey violence, and my paternal instincts come out.  We’re not dumb animals, and we can control or impulses.”

 

Gavin hummed in agreement.  “Thank you for helping me, but I think I’d feel more comfortable back in my apartment tonight.  Familiar territory and all that.”

 

Ryan nodded, but looked a little put out.  “I understand that, but what about Michael?  Doesn’t he have a key?”

 

“Oh.”  Gavin’s eyes widened as he realized Ryan’s train of thought.  “Well, I don’t think that Michael will ever lose control like he did today.  I promise I’ll be okay if you take me home.  I’ll even lock the extra deadbolt that can’t be seen from outside.”

 

Ryan sighed, and flicked on a turn signal that would start him on the path to Gavin’s place.  “Alright, you’re an adult, and I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t feel comfortable with.  Can you just promise to text me before you go to sleep to let me know if you’re okay?”

 

Gavin smiled at Ryan and gently placed a hand on his arm.  “Of course, Rye bread!  Thanks for looking out for me!”

 

* * *

 

 

Gavin was a bit nervous as he approached the door to the AH office the next day, shifting from foot to foot as he amped himself up to open the door.  He shrieked when a hand gripped his shoulder.

 

“Whoa!  It’s only me!”  Ryan spoke in a low voice, stepping back with his hands held up to be completely visible.

 

Sighing in relief, Gavin let a hand come up to cover his racing heart.  “Sorry, Ryan.”

 

“It’s okay.  I just wanted to see if everything was okay since you seemed like you didn’t want to go in.”

 

“Yeah, I’m just a little nervous.  Do you think everyone is still mad at me?”

 

“No, but I’ll head butt anyone who is.”  Ryan gently knocked their foreheads together, making Gavin laugh.

 

"Team Love and Stuff back at it again!"

 

Feeling better with Ryan there, Gavin finally opened the door.  Michael and Jack sat morosely on the couch near the door, jumping up when they saw Gavin enter.  Instead of rushing up to him, they both started tripping over apologies, which Gavin gladly accepted before acquiescing to them approaching him to worry about his injuries much as Ryan had done the previous day.

 

All the while, Ryan stood at his back as a calming guardian.


End file.
